With Thanksgiving only a mere day away, Antonio Cromartie, appropriately, had a chance to reflect on his excellent performance so far this year. In the absence of Revis there is no doubt Cromartie has visibly been able to elevate his game to a level never before seen and he owes it to the man whose shoes he’d have to help fill–Revis.

“We expect so much out of each other and he just came to me and told me what he expected from me,” Cromartie said. “I made sure I lived up to what his expectation was on the football field.”

“It took for him to come to me as a peer to make me understand we can have one of the greatest one-two punches at the corners with me playing at this level,” Cromartie said. “Honestly, I thank Revis for coming and talking to me and for being a great teammate and making sure I’m playing at a high level.”

Eric Weeks, TheJetsBlog.com

In a season where everything that could go wrong has, more or less, gone wrong, it has been a privilege to witness the evolution of Cromartie on the field. We saw the signs of improvement last year, his second season in New York, but this year he has taken a considerable leap and has established himself as one of the best cornerbacks in the league (of course I’m sure the Pro Bowl voting will be the defining factor of that assertion).

It’s a bit disappointing it took Revis’ injury to realize his untapped potential and Cromartie candidly admitted as much however, during a time when the Jets have a relatively young and inexperienced secondary that has suddenly been saddled with the tall task of taking over for Revis, Cromartie has not backed down from the challenge and has been a leader on the field for this team.

If he can continue to play at this level for the forseeable future, just imagine the headaches for opposing quarterbacks once Revis is healthy.